Because of such negative scenarios, the level of curiosity of the person increases and a desire to seek answers to questions that have not been thought of before may occur. One of those negative scenarios is a flock of birds that will crash into the engine and prevent it from starting.
Maybe you have ideas that will provide practical solutions for this negative situation. Placing protective wire mesh on aircraft engines is one of these ideas. It may sound like a logical idea in practice, but we cannot say the same when it comes to implementation.
Let’s first consider the precautions for bird strike.
Bird swarm-related accidents usually occur during the most risky take-off and landing times of flights. In order to prevent this from happening, nests close to airports, where birds can take shelter, are meticulously removed. There’s even a team for it. These units, which are assigned within the airport, carry out various practices to control and remove flocks of birds.
Another thing that increases the probability of an accident is the migration period of birds.
During this migration period, which takes place between July and October, officials try to minimize accidents by doing extra work.
Another precaution is taken when designing aircraft engines. The possibility of bird strike is one of the most important factors taken into consideration, and accordingly, the engines are subjected to many tests by the technicians. Thanks to such developments, the risks are minimized and not every bird strike turns into a situation that can damage the aircraft’s engine.
Now let’s come to our main question: Why is a wire mesh not placed in front of aircraft engines to prevent foreign objects?
Firstly; If we consider the vacuum power of the aircraft engine, the bird or any object that will come in front of the engine reaches such a speed that a wire mesh with openings cannot stop them.
Another reason is that you can’t put anything solid in front of airplane engines because it blocks the airflow needed to run the engines. Normally, air circulation is maximized when there is no obstacle in front of the engine. Suppose we put an elastic, lightweight composite cage 1 mm thick in front of the engine:
As the air flow is disturbed, the air entering the engine becomes unbalanced and begins to create turbulence. While the efficiency of the engine decreases, it is necessary to spend more time on the destination and causes the aircraft to consume more fuel. In addition, composite material is also a very costly product. Due to such costs, the idea of a cage that can be placed in front of aircraft engines is something that no airline would want.
We have come to the end of another interesting article about aircraft. If you have more creative ideas to solve this problem instead of wireframe, we are waiting for you in the comments.
Source: Aviation for All, CBS News
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